1900 Galveston Hurricane
1900 Galveston Hurricane
1900 Galveston Hurricane
1900 Galveston Hurricane
September 22, 2005
by Kevin Caruso
On September 8, 1900, an unnamed devastating hurricane, believed to be a category 4, hit Galveston, Texas.
And the city is an island with a peak elevation of 8.7 feet, so it was, and is, highly vulnerable to hurricanes.
The sophisticated hurricane warning and tracking systems that we now have were not available in 1900; and people did not have automobiles, so even if they knew about the incoming storm, a mass evacuation would not have been possible.
The exact number of people who died is not certain, but at least 6,000 people died in Galveston alone, and probably 8,000 to 12,000 died in all areas.
The population of Galveston was about 35,000 at the time.
The 1900 Hurricane killed more Americans that any other natural disaster in history,
Killing more that the 1872 Great Chicago Fire, the 1889 Johnstown flood, the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, and the 1938 New England Hurricane combined.
